Microsoft's response to Apple's win is probably the most cringeworthy of all. Blatantly admitting Windows Phone can't make a dent in the market on merit, but instead requires the court room to do so, Bill Cox, senior director of Windows Phone marketing communications, said: "Windows Phone is looking gooooood right now." Nauseating.

"[q] Btw, the law suit wasn't on one aspect but the culmination of all the various parts that were blatantly ripped off - it is one thing to take a few ideas and build upon them whilst creating a unique experience but it is an entirely different situation to be a 'me too'.

Apple lost in the UK, Germany, The Netherlands, Australia, and South Korea.

Apple won in the US (the only jury trial).

Make of it what you will, but "blatant" is not the term I'd use. "

But you're OK to cheerlead on Samsung who have been been caught out with LCD price fixing, mobile price fixing, memory price fixing etc. etc. more damage to consumers than any so-called patent war could ever do thanks to Apple's paranoia. [/q]
I don't think the OP was cheerleading on Samsung like you are cheerleeding for the destruction of the freedom to write code. What Apple and Microsoft are doing is abusing the patent system and opening up a pandora box of software-patents on every little feature of software. And with this we are heading for truly dark times when the only people that can legally write commecial code in the US are the ones who have the approval of Apple and Microsoft. And we have seen that by their rules that code must not compete with them. Think about this for a minute. You sit down at your computer and write your own code totally unique to you but because it does some function such as hyperlink to a phone # you are now at risk of being sued. even if your code is totally different from anything Apple wrote. This a very very bad situation. Basically What Appple and Microsoft are doing is taking ownership of other people's code through the use of software-patents.